Moving to Fullerton, CA worried about cost of living. (apartments, rentals)

[cyberangel99]

I need help about moving to Fullerton, CA. First off, I am a 24 year old, black female, single, unmarried, no children. I live in northwest, Ohio and I am an LPN/LVN nurse graduate. I got into nursing because I wanted a job to take with me when I moved. My true dream is to be an illustrator and work for a video game company and draw comic books. My college of choice is the California State Fullerton to get a bachelor's degree in illustration. I have looked at apartments in the Fullerton area and most of them are about $700-$900 a month. I estimated my budget to be about $2,000 a month as a LVN nurse. I am not sure how much an LVN makes in California. I will probably need a car if I move down there and the cost of paying back my loans, along with paying for an apartment, I am worried about staying financial stable to complete my illustration degree.

I have been debating if I should go back to school and complete my associate degree RN to increase my salary before I move to California. But I am not really sure about that, if I can survive as an LVN in Fullerton, CA then I won't go back to achieve my RN, just my bachelor's in illustration. I need advice from anyone in this area, on an LVN budget, will I be able to survive staying in Fullerton as a single person? Are there any cheaper apartments in this area? I really need your help, everyday I worry about this because I have always dreamed of becoming an illustrator.

Thanks

[Charles]

Originally Posted by cyberangel99

I need help about moving to Fullerton, CA. First off, I am a 24 year old, black female, single, unmarried, no children. I live in northwest, Ohio and I am an LPN/LVN nurse graduate. I got into nursing because I wanted a job to take with me when I moved. My true dream is to be an illustrator and work for a video game company and draw comic books. My college of choice is the California State Fullerton to get a bachelor's degree in illustration. I have looked at apartments in the Fullerton area and most of them are about $700-$900 a month. I estimated my budget to be about $2,000 a month as a LVN nurse. I am not sure how much an LVN makes in California. I will probably need a car if I move down there and the cost of paying back my loans, along with paying for an apartment, I am worried about staying financial stable to complete my illustration degree.

I have been debating if I should go back to school and complete my associate degree RN to increase my salary before I move to California. But I am not really sure about that, if I can survive as an LVN in Fullerton, CA then I won't go back to achieve my RN, just my bachelor's in illustration. I need advice from anyone in this area, on an LVN budget, will I be able to survive staying in Fullerton as a single person? Are there any cheaper apartments in this area? I really need your help, everyday I worry about this because I have always dreamed of becoming an illustrator.

Thanks

I can't help you with the career decisions, though it does sound like you've performed some good research already.

I have a couple tools to use:
HousingMaps and
MapsKrieg - CraigsList Apartment Listings Mashed With Google Maps

Check out some of these rentals and ask the forum on comments concerning safety and commuting and proximity to amenities.

[Ceece]

Why don't you get all illustration degree where you are now? OOS tuition is going to kill you.

[AKgirlinCA]

I am concerned about the safety of any apartments that you found in Fullerton for $700-$900. I have never heard of 1 bedroom apts being that cheap in anything even remotely safe anywhere in OC. I know because I lived in OC for 2.5 years. The cost of living is no joke! A cheaper option would be to rent a room in someone's house which would also normally give you more amenities such as a washer & dryer. Do you know anyone here in CA? Why do you want to come to CA? Only asking because it might be a better idea to just stay put & finish your degree there, then move out here. Plus, the economy will hopefully be better at that point --more availability of jobs for when you graduate etc. I have no idea what LVN's make out here.....even if it pays $15/hr that won't be enough.....Good luck to you though and feel free to ask any other questions

[cyberangel99]

Thank so much for the advice. I will take it to heart. I guess I wanted to go to california because I have always heard of its best art colleges in that area and that it's a great state to find a job in the design/art industry. But I will follow your advice and take my illustration degree where I am at and then move out to california. Thanks

[BRinSM]

you can live near the campus of CSUF for that price and be around mostly other students. there are also quite a few lower income families (of all different colors) that live in these apartments too, so you may have to deal with kids and smells of ethnic cuisine, but it's not that bad, i did it for 4 years. the only issue in the area that i found besides the noise from drunken students was petty crime like vandalism and car break-ins.

[Chatteress]

Originally Posted by AKgirlinCA

I am concerned about the safety of any apartments that you found in Fullerton for $700-$900. I have never heard of 1 bedroom apts being that cheap in anything even remotely safe anywhere in OC. I know because I lived in OC for 2.5 years. The cost of living is no joke! A cheaper option would be to rent a room in someone's house which would also normally give you more amenities such as a washer & dryer. Do you know anyone here in CA? Why do you want to come to CA? Only asking because it might be a better idea to just stay put & finish your degree there, then move out here. Plus, the economy will hopefully be better at that point --more availability of jobs for when you graduate etc. I have no idea what LVN's make out here.....even if it pays $15/hr that won't be enough.....Good luck to you though and feel free to ask any other questions

I am also concerned about that price range. I considered moving from LA county to OC and Fullerton was one of the areas I was researching. I did not see anything decent for under 1200-1400 price range unless prices came down this past year. There are some areas that appear questionable and made me hesitant to move to Fullerton although it has a nice downtown area that's walkable.

[SnipeTheEvil]

I moved to California 12 years ago and there is no place affordable here. Not only that the cost of living is one of the highest in the nation. Can't wait to retire in 7 yrs. and move out of California!

Being a black woman you should have no problem, as California is one of the most diverse states.

I would say go back to school and complete your degree and you then would be able to afford to live here. When you are ready to make a move and start looking, contact the local police or Sheriff department in the area you want to move and ask them about crime rate.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by SnipeTheEvil

I moved to California 12 years ago and there is no place affordable here.

Wrong again.

There are plenty of places that are affordable, with jobs, and with good schools. They might not necessarily be on the beach or get glamorized on television, but they exist.

[AKgirlinCA]

Charles--


You are still one of my favorite posters, but yet again, you are viewing California with rose colored glasses on finding those things is actually considerably difficult in California when you combine salaries with cost of living. It doesn't measure out too well unfortunately. I would trade you places in an instant!